Decades ago, I drank my first bottle of Riesling and I loved the flavors, but the wine was too sweet. It was a domestic Riesling, and there was no indication of how sweet the wine would be. So although I liked the wine, it certainly didn't go with food.

Years went by and I learned about German Rieslings and how classic they could be. I learned about how dry Australian Rieslings were, and about how fascinating this grape was in that it displayed its regional character with unerring precision. I was also increasingly irritated that wine bottles never displayed the sweetness level of the wine inside.

The worst-case scenario was, however, when a wine maker would state the sweetness on the label and the wine inside didn't conform. I have had a lot of Rieslings that said they were "dry," but when we pulled the cork, found they were still rather sweet, or lacking in acidity to work with food.

Many years of frustration later, I was chatting with Jim Trezise, the brilliant head of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, who agreed that the consumer was really being left out of this problem. Many consumers felt the same way we did, but were powerless to act, other than to return a too-sweet or too-dry bottle to the retailer the next day.

Or worse yet, get into an argument with a waiter.

The problem has now been addressed by a newly formed organization that Trezise energized and for which I contributed time. The International Riesling Foundation (IRF) was formed last November following a strategy meeting a year ago, and in its first formal act has approved a Riesling Taste Scale designed to make it easier for consumers to predict the sweetness they can expect from a particular bottle of Riesling. With assistance from numerous wine makers and technical experts, I developed the guidelines that wine makers may use to choose the proper term to put on the wines they craft. The driest of these wines is called, simply, Dry. Very slightly sweet wines are called Off-Dry, followed by Medium Dry, Medium Sweet and Sweet. The guidelines are voluntary, with wine makers and winery owners free to use them or not. However, already with dozens of members in the IRF committed to using the guidelines, it is safe to say they are well on their way to international usage. Numerous wineries have already said they will use the guidelines, and one (Scott Harvey of the Napa Valley) was all prepared to use a sweetness chart last week, hours after the vote approving it, but a few legal details have kept the particulars under wraps. Included in the guidelines are strategies wine makers can use, incorporating residual sugar, acid and pH, in a simple way to determine which words best describe their style. Additionally, I have plans to use the same guidelines in my discussions of Gewurztraminer, Muscat and other white wines that usually are made with residual sugar.

Riesling is the fastest-growing white wine in the United States, second only to Pinot Noir of any wine, yet market research has shown that many consumers think of Riesling only as "a sweet white wine" despite the wide range of tastes it can represent.

Riesling may be made in many styles, from bone dry to sweet, making it very versatile, but this versatility can be both a strength and a weakness. Some consumers may be put off if they're expecting one taste and get another. Wineries attending the formation meeting last Sunday included Californians Kendall-Jackson and J. Lohr, wineries from Canada, Germany, Oregon, Washington, New York and Michigan. Also attending the meeting on a conference call were additional members including longtime Riesling importer and expert Peter M.F. Sichel. All agreed the taste scale will enhance Riesling's strength by letting consumers know the basic taste before they open or even buy the bottle.

Though the guidelines are voluntary, all at the meeting hoped that over time many Riesling producers will use the system because it will help consumers, and therefore help the wineries as well.

The next step is to develop a simple graphic design showing the five levels from Dry to Sweet, and a simple indication of where a particular wine falls. This design may be used on back labels, merchandising materials, web sites and elsewhere.

The taste scale was adopted last Sunday at the second annual Riesling Rendezvous at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, Wash.

Dan Berger resides in Sonoma County, Calif. Berger publishes a weekly newsletter on wine and can be reached at danberger@VintageExperiences.com. To find out more about Dan Berger and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.